Surprise food finds leave bad taste

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A razor blade in a croissant, a metal spring in a tub of yoghurt and suspected maggots in chocolate-coated strawberries were just some of the nasties found in our food in the second half of last year.

Glass was also found in Healtheries children's rice treats, a metal screw in some KFC chips, and a cigarette butt in a bag of Wattie's frozen vegetables.

Last June, Fairfax Media reported on the unsavoury items discovered in the first half of the year - which included a cockroach among chips from a Tauranga KFC, swirling maggots in a cheese at Countdown in Crofton Downs, and glass shards found in hot drinks and a pie.

Since June, the Ministry of Primary Industries has revealed to The Dominion Post, the food industry has cooked up another batch of undesirables.

Elizabeth Lind, an owner of La Cigele, which runs a food market in Auckland, said the razor blade found in the croissant had come from supplier Paneton Bakery.

It was found by the daughter of a stallholder, she said, who thankfully had not bitten into it.

"It was an almond croissant. We get it from our supplier . . . and we cook it.

"The business [Paneton] came and took it away and they investigated how it could possibly have happened. Probably within an hour it was all done."

The bakery used razor blades to score their baguettes, and one of the razors had fallen into the croissants. Ms Lind understood the bakery had ceased using razor blades since the June 29 incident.

Paneton owner Dominique Colombie said the incident was regrettable, but dealt with "in accordance with regulations".

Michele Coker, owner of Candyland where suspected maggots were found in chocolate-coated strawberries and cherries, said the wriggly critters were actually weevil larvae.

"The larvae visually look like maggots. They're very hard to get rid of. It's just a matter of cleaning and cleaning and cleaning."

She blamed a new organic spray that Candyland was trialling, though she said it was a one-off incident. "It wasn't working quite as well as I'd have liked. The spray doesn't kill the eggs."

In October, fast-food giant McDonald's shut down about 50 stores in the North Island for about five hours after it was discovered there may have been glass in its burger buns.

McDonald's spokesman Simon Kenny said at the time that broken glass from a light was found on the floor next to the production line and the suppliers could not guarantee glass had not entered the buns.